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Insurance 2015 year-end review and forecast for 2016

Insurance Update

2015 was a challenging and transformative year for the insurance industry. We saw:

More than $200 billion in mergers, including mega-mergers such as Anthem’s $55.2 billion acquisition of Cigna, Aetna’s $37 billion acquisition of Humana and Ace’s $29.7 billion acquisition of Chubb.

Announced plans by some major carriers to dramatically restructure and rescale their businesses, in part due to regulatory changes, activist investors and harsh commercial realities.

Further evolution of the regulatory ecosystem. This included the implementation of Solvency II, the adoption of BCR and HLA by the IAIS, changes and challenges to SIFI and G-SII designations, and expanding interest in recovery and resolution plans.

Opportunities and challenges presented by big data and technology.

Emerging and growing risks – such as cybersecurity and climate change.

An adverse commercial and economic environment, with over-capacity, softening rates in many lines, low interest rates and low investment returns challenging profitability for every sector of the business.

Our Year-End Review and Forecast for 2016 reviews some of the more notable events and trends in the insurance industry over the past 12 months. Our crystal ball is a bit clouded by the scale and speed of changes we see, but we hope this review will provide some useful insights and information as we face the New Year.

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DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world.

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, positioning us to help clients with their legal needs around the world.